Cristiano Ronaldo will complete his world record £80m move from Manchester United to Real Madrid on 1 July after agreeing a six-year deal. Manchester United confirmed earlier this month they had accepted a world-record bid from the Primera Division side and the two clubs have now finalised an agreement for the Portugal 24-year-old winger’s transfer.

A statement on Madrid’s website on Friday evening read: “Real Madrid and Manchester United have signed a final agreement for the transfer of the rights of Cristiano Ronaldo from July 1. “The player will be tied to Real Madrid for the next six seasons and will be presented on July 6 at the Santiago Bernabeu.”

Manchester United said on their website: “Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure is all but done and dusted after Real Madrid and Manchester United finalised the agreement for his transfer on Friday evening. “The Portuguese winger was the subject of a world record £80million offer from the Spanish club on Thursday 11 June. He has since been on holiday but a return to work with new employers now beckons, with the sale set to be completed on Wednesday 1 July.”

The deal for Ronaldo means Madrid will break the world record transfer fee for the fourth time – all sanctioned by president Florentino Perez. During Perez’s first tenure in the position, from 2000-2006, Madrid signed Luis Figo from Barcelona for £37million in 2000 and then a year later brought in Zinedine Zidane from Juventus for £46million.

Then just a week after returning to the presidency at the start of this month, Perez captured the signing of Brazilian ace Kaka from AC Milan for a fee reportedly in the region of £59million. Real Madrid have also signing centre-back Raul Albiol from Valencia for £12m, to bring Real’s total summer spend, so far, to £148m.

Perez and Madrid have now smashed all of those price tags though by bringing FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldo to Spain. Friday’s announcement ends a pursuit that started a number of years ago and came to a head last summer when barely a day went by when Madrid’s chase of Ronaldo was not in the news.

Despite Real Madrid have also been linked with Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso, Valencia’s David Villa and Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery after spending £148m on only 3 players. Ronaldo joined Manchester United in 2003 from Sporting Lisbon for £12.2m, but was strongly linked with a move to the Spanish capital in the summer of 2008.

The France international, Real Madrid and Juventus legend Zinedine Zidane has opened up his heart to the fas of the games for the first timeafter the headbutt, and he admits his regret at the way he behaved during the World Cup final against Italy in 2006. Asked what had caused to react so violently, he said Materazzi had directed some “very hard words” at him. “You hear them once and you try to move away. But then you hear them twice, and then a third time,” said Zidane. “I am a man and some words are harder to hear than actions. I would rather have taken a blow to the face than hear that.”

His on-pitch battle with Marco Materazzi reached boiling point and Zidane let off steam by headbutting the Italian. The gesture shocked the world, and the former Bianconero says he regrets what he did on that ill-fated night in Berlin during the World Cup final match of 2006.

“I ended my career on a very sad note,” Zidane told Le Parisien. “At the time my mother was in hospital but I am not trying to justify my actions. I felt empty when I returned to the dressing room. It was not a nice end at all. “I was insulted but my reaction was not right. The provocation should have been punished. I don’t feel any injustice at all. It was not the thing to do.” Zidane also spoke about the days when taking creatine at Juventus was the norm. Many will remember the doping scandal which rocked the club ten years ago,
but Juve was cleared of any wrongdoing by the World Anti-Doping Agency. “Doping was a bad thing. We used to take creatine in Turin, it was illegal in France but not in Italy. I don’t think it was dangerous,” added Zidane.

Zidane is taking his time away from the game but he did hint at a possible coaching role in future. “Coaching? Not now but maybe in ten years I may consider it,” concluded the Frenchman. Zinedine Zidane’s career ended headbutt to Italy’s Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final 2006.